Marked words appear in this translation and in no other English translation of this verse. Common small words and older spellings are not marked. The marks show where the wording differs, not where the meaning does.
Talal Itani· published 2012
Or like utter darkness in a vast ocean, covered by waves, above which are waves, above which is fog. Darkness upon darkness. If he brings out his hand, he will hardly see it. He to whom God has not granted a light has no light.
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1875–1936 · published 1930
Or as darkness on a vast, abysmal sea. There covereth him a wave, above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. Layer upon layer of darkness. When he holdeth out his hand he scarce can see it. And he for whom Allah hath not appointed light, for him there is no light
Sources
Translation Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran·Public domain — copyright term expired
Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran·1930 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work
·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Edward Henry Palmer1840–1882 · published 1880
Or like darkness on a deep sea, there covers it a wave above which is a wave, above which is a cloud,- darknesses one above the other,- when one puts out his hand he can scarcely see it; for he to whom God has given no light, he has no light
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Or like the darkness on the deep sea when covered by billows riding upon billows, above which are clouds: darkness upon darkness. When a manreacheth forth his hand, he cannot nearly see it! He to whom God shall not give light, no light at all hath he
Sources
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Or, as the darkness in a deep sea, covered by waves riding on waves, above which are clouds, being additions of darkness one over the other; when one stretcheth forth his hand, he is far from seeing it. And unto whomsoever God shall not grant his light, he shall enjoy no light at all
Sources
Translation George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an·1734 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work
·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Other languages (18)Shqip · Albanian
Ose (veprat e tyre) janë si errësirat në një det të thellë të mbuluar me dallgë mbi dallgë, sipër të cilave ka re - shtresa errësire, njëra mbi tjetrën, aq sa, kur njeriu nxjerr dorën e vet, vështirë që e sheh. Pra, ai të cilit Allahu nuk i jep dritë, nuk ka për të pasur kurrfarë drite.
Translated by the team of Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
বাংলা · Bengali
অথবা (কাফিরদের আমলসমূহ) গভীর সমুদ্রে ঘনীভূত অন্ধকারের মতো, যাকে আচ্ছন্ন করে ঢেউয়ের উপরে ঢেউ, তার উপরে মেঘমালা। অনেক অন্ধকার; এক স্তরের উপর অপর স্তর। কেউ হাত বের করলে (অন্ধকারের দরুন) আদৌ তা দেখতে পায় না। আর আল্লাহ যাকে ( হিদায়াতের ) নূর (আলো) দেন না তার জন্য কোনো নূর বা আলো নেই।
Translated by the team of Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Dawah Association in Rabwah, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.2
Bosanski · Bosnian
ili su kao tmine nad dubokim morem koje prekrivaju talasi sve jedan za drugim, iznad kojih su oblaci, sve tmine jedna iznad drugih, prst se pred okom ne vidi – a onaj kome Allah ne da svjetlo neće svjetla ni imati.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 2.0.4
Hrvatski · Croatian
ili su kao tmine nad dubokim morem koje prekrivaju valovi sve jedan za drugim, iznad kojih su oblaci, sve tmine jedna iznad drugih, prst se pred okom ne vidi – a onaj kome Allah ne da svjetlo neće svjetla ni imati.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.1
Fulfulde · Fulani
Ma ko wano niɓe e maayo luggungo, no suddi ngo bempeƴƴe no dow maggo bempeƴƴe no dow majje duule, niɓe yoga e majje no e dow yoga, si o yaltinii junngo makko ngon o ɓadotaako ji'igol ngo. oon mo Alla waɗanaani annoore hara o alaa annoore.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
ქართული · Georgian
ან ჰგვანან წყვდიადს აბობოქრებულ ზღვაში, რომელსაც ფარავს [ზღვის] ტალღა ზემოდან, ხოლო მათ ზემოდანაც ღრუბლები, ერთი წყვდიადი მეორეზე! თუ ხელს ამოჰყოფს, ვერაფერს დაინახავს. და იმას, ვისაც ალლაჰი სინათლეს არ დაუდგენს, სინათლე არ ექნება [მას უკვე ვერავინ გაუძღვება ჭეშმარიტ გზაზე].
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.7
Deutsch · German
Oder (ihre Taten sind) wie Finsternisse in einem abgrundtiefen Meer, das von Wellen überdeckt ist, über denen (nochmals) Wellen sind, über denen (wiederum) Wolken sind: Finsternisse, eine über der anderen. Wenn er seine Hand ausstreckt, kann er sie kaum sehen. Und wem Allah kein Licht schafft, für den gibt es kein Licht.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.15
Ελληνικά · Greek
Ή (οι πράξεις των άπιστων) είναι σαν τα βαθιά σκοτάδια στο βυθό μίας βαθιάς θάλασσας, ο οποίος (βυθός) έχει σκεπαστεί με κύματα, και από πάνω τους υπάρχουν και άλλα κύματα, και από πάνω τους υπάρχουν (πυκνά και σκοτεινά) σύννεφα (που εμποδίζουν το φως των αστεριών). Βαθιά σκοτάδια, το ένα πάνω στο άλλο, που αν έβγαζε κανείς το χέρι του, σχεδόν δε θα το έβλεπε [και έτσι είναι ο άπιστος που έπεσε στα σκοτάδια της άγνοιας, της αμφιβολίας και της ισχυρογνωμοσύνης]. Σε όποιον δε δίνει ο Αλλάχ φως (καθοδήγηση και γνώση για το Βιβλίο Του), δε θα έχει φως!
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
हिन्दी · Hindi
अथवा (उनके कर्म) उन अँधेरों के समान हैं, जो अत्यंत गहरे सागर में हों, जिसे एक लहर ढाँप रही हो, जिसके ऊपर एक और लहर हो, जिसके ऊपर एक बादल हो, कई अँधेरे हों, जिनमें से कुछ, कुछ के ऊपर हों। जब (इन अँधेरों में फँसा हुआ व्यक्ति) अपना हाथ निकाले, तो क़रीब नहीं कि उसे देख पाए। और वह व्यक्ति जिसके लिए अल्लाह प्रकाश न बनाए, तो उसके लिए कोई भी प्रकाश[35] नहीं।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
Oppure (le opere dei miscredenti) sono come oscurità in un mare profondo e gonfio d’onde, su cui si sovrappongono altre onde, sovrastate da nuvole: tenebre, una sopra l’altra, in cui, se uno allunga la mano, quasi non la vede. E chi Allāh non dota di luce, non avrà alcuna luce.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
Lietuvių · Lithuanian
40. Arba [netikinčiojo būsena] yra kaip tamsuma plačioje gilioje jūroje, apimta bangų, dengiamų bangomis, dengiama tamsių debesų, tamsumos (sluoksnio) ant tamsumos: jei žmogus ištiesia savo ranką, jis sunkiai gali ją matyti! Ir tas, kuriam Allahas nepaskyrė šviesos, jam nėra šviesos.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.8
Afaan Oromoo · Oromo
Yookiin akka dukkana galaana gadi fagoo ta’e keessa jiru, kan danbaliin isa haguugeeti, kan gubbaa isaa danbaliin (biraa) jiru, kan isa gubbaa duumessi jiru (haguuguuti), (Isheen kun) dukkana gariin ishee garii gubbaa jirtuudha; yeroo harka isaa baase argutti hin dhihaatu, Namni Allaahn ifaa isaaf hin taasisin, ifaan homaatuu isaaf hin jiru.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.0
Русский · Russian
Или [они] словно мрак в глубоком море, которое покрывает волна, над которой [ещё] волна, а над ней — тучи: мрак над мраком. Когда он вытягивает руку, то едва может её увидеть. Кому Аллах не даровал света — нет тому света.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.1
Српски · Serbian
или су као тмине над дубоким морем које прекривају таласи све један за другим, изнад којих су облаци, све тмине једна изнад других, прст се пред оком не види – а онај коме Аллах не да светло неће светла ни имати.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.4
Kiswahili · Swahili
Au ni kama giza katika bahari kuu, iliyofunikwa na mawimbi juu ya mawimbi, na juu yake yapo mawingu. Giza juu ya giza. Akiutoa mtu mkono wake anakaribia asiuone. Na ambaye Mwenyezi Mungu hakumjalia kuwa na nuru hawi na nuru.
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
Eller likt mörker i ett djupt hav, där vågorna överlappar varandra och täcks av moln; mörker på mörker! När han sträcker ut sin hand ser han den knappt. Den Gud inte ger ljus har inget ljus.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
Türkçe · Turkish
Yahut derin bir denizdeki karanlıklar gibidir. Onu bir dalga örter, onu da üstünden (başka) bir dalga kaplar. Onların üzerinde ise bulutlar vardır. Birbiri üstünde karanlıklar. Elini çıkarsa neredeyse onu dahi göremeyecektir. Allah kime nur vermemişse onun nuru olmaz.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.4
اردو · Urdu
یا مثل ان اندھیروں کے ہے جو نہایت گہرے سمندر کی تہہ میں ہوں جسے اوپر تلے کی موجوں نے ڈھانﭗ رکھا ہو، پھر اوپر سے بادل چھائے ہوئے ہوں۔ الغرض اندھیریاں ہیں جو اوپر تلے پےدرپے ہیں۔ جب اپنا ہاتھ نکالے تو اسے بھی قریب ہے کہ نہ دیکھ سکے[1] ، اور (بات یہ ہے کہ) جسے اللہ تعالیٰ ہی نور نہ دے اس کے پاس کوئی روشنی نہیں ہوتی.[2]
Translated by Muhammad Ibrahim Junagarhi, developed under the supervision of the Rowwad Translation Center. The original translation is available for the purpose of expressing opinion, evaluation, and continuous development.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.3
About these translations
5 cleared translations, newest first, by year of publication, so the modern English comes before the historical ones. That is an ordering by date, not a judgement. Each is shown complete — this platform never excerpts a translation — and each renders under its translator's name. No translation here is marked as the correct one.
Which translations appear here is set by copyright: they are the ones whose rights could be documented and cleared. The selection is not a judgement that these are the best.
About easy-read
Easy-read
Easy-read is a simplified pronunciation,
not authoritative — a rule-by-rule romanisation, not a reading.
Each verse ends in its pause form, as it is said when you stop there. Pauses inside a verse and other tajwid rules are not shown. It is derived from the Tanzil
Simple edition, while the Arabic above is the
Uthmani edition; both are cleared, but they are not the
same edition and their orthography differs.
Easy-read (simplified)liyajziyahumu llaahu ahsana maa 'amiloo wayazeedahum min fadlihi wallaahu yarzuqu man yashaa'u bighayri hisaab
DIN 31635liyaǧziyahumu llāhu ʾaḥsana mā ʿamilū wayazīdahum min faḍlihi wallāhu yarzuqu man yašāʾu biġayri ḥisābin
Talal Itani2012 God will reward them according to the best of what they did, and He will increase them from His bounty. God provides for whomever He wills without reckoning.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 That Allah may reward them with the best of what they did, and increase reward for them of His bounty. Allah giveth blessings without stint to whom He will
Edward Henry Palmer1880 that God may recompense them for the best that they have done, and give them increase of His grace; for God provides whom He pleases without count
John Medows Rodwell1861 That for their most excellent works may God recompense them, and of His bounty increase it to them more and more: for God maketh provision for whom He pleaseth without measure
George Sale1734 that God may recompense them according to the utmost merit of what they shall have wrought, and may add unto them of his abundance a more excellent reward; for God bestoweth on whom he pleaseth without measure
Talal Itani2012 As for those who disbelieve, their works are like a mirage in a desert. The thirsty assumes it is to be water. Until, when he has reached it, he finds it to be nothing, but there he finds God, Who settles his account in full. God is swift in reckoning.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are as a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one supposeth it to be water till he cometh unto it and findeth it naught, and findeth, in the place thereof, Allah Who payeth him his due; and Allah is swift at reckoning
Edward Henry Palmer1880 But those who misbelieve, their works are like the mirage in a plain, the thirsty counts it water till when he comes to it he finds nothing, but he finds that God is with him; and He will pay him his account, for God is quick to take account
John Medows Rodwell1861 But as to the infidels, their works are like the vapour in a plain which the thirsty dreameth to be water, until when he cometh unto it, he findeth it not aught, but findeth that God is with him; and He fully payeth him his account: for swift to take account is God
George Sale1734 But as to the unbelievers, their works are like the vapour in a plain, which the thirsty traveller thinketh to be water, until, when he cometh thereto, he findeth it to be nothing; but he findeth God with him, and he will fully pay him his account; and God is swift in taking an account
Easy-read (simplified)alam tara anna llaaha yusabbihu lahu man fee s-samaawaati wal-'ardi wat-tayru saaffaatin kullun qad 'alima salaatahu watasbeehahu wallaahu 'aleemun bimaa yaf'aloon
DIN 31635ʾalam tara ʾanna llāha yusabbiḥu lahu man fī s-samāwāti wal-ʾarḍi waṭ-ṭayru ṣāffātin kullun qad ʿalima ṣalātahu watasbīḥahu wallāhu ʿalīmun bimā yafʿalūna
Talal Itani2012 Do you not realize that God is glorified by whatever is in the heavens and the earth, and even by the birds in formation? Each knows its prayer and its manner of praise. God knows well what they do.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Hast thou not seen that Allah, He it is Whom all who are in the heavens and the earth praise, and the birds in their flight? Of each He knoweth verily the worship and the praise; and Allah is Aware of what they do
Edward Henry Palmer1880 Hast thou not seen that God,- all who are in the heavens and the earth celebrate His praises, and the birds too spreading out their wings; each one knows its prayer and its praise, and God knows what they do
John Medows Rodwell1861 Hast thou not seen how all in the Heavens and in the Earth uttereth the praise of God? - the very birds as they spread their wings? Every creature knoweth its prayer and its praise! and God knoweth what they do
George Sale1734 Dost thou not perceive that all creatures both in heaven and earth praise God; and the birds also, extending their wings? Every one knoweth his prayer, and his praise: And God knoweth that which they do
These figures count the words the translations share. They measure wording, not meaning, and they do not say which translation is right.
Derived measure: mean pairwise Jaccard distance over the
lowercased word sets of the 5 renderings above —
0.64 on a scale
where 0 means identical wording and 1 means no shared words. It is
computed, not judged.
The page says a verse is worded differently only above the cut below. The cut is a stated convention, not a property of the text, and it can be changed.
The cut
0.644
Share of measured verses above it
33%
Verses above it
2,079
Verses measured
6,236
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.71
Talal Itani · George Sale0.69
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.68
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.67
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · John Medows Rodwell0.67
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.63
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.61
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.60
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.55
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.53
One bar per pair of renderings, longest bar for the pair
sharing fewest words. Every pair is shown; none is singled out.
Method Wording differences — derived 13 September 2026
Method
Mean pairwise Jaccard distance over the lowercased word sets of the cleared translations of each verse. A verse is marked as worded differently when its score falls in the top third of the corpus — the cut set out in Analysis details.
As at
13 September 2026, 10:56 UTC
Gate
verify/divergence_gate.py re-derives and fails on drift
The platform does not say which is right, and does not
characterise what the difference means. The renderings are placed
together so the difference is visible; reading it is the reader's work.
7 sources
stand behind this page. Each is listed once, in the order the page first
cites it, with the licence it was cleared under and what was actually read.
Nothing on this page rests on a source that is not here.
Source Tanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) · Uthmani, Version 1.1
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 ayahs. The bismillah is delivered as a separate `bismillah` attribute on ayah 1 and is NOT fused into the ayah text. 112 surahs carry one: every surah except al-Fatiha, where the bismillah is ayah 1:1 itself, and at-Tawba, which has none. Sourced from the XML output; the plain-text output of the same release DOES fuse it, which is defect D1.
CLEARED. Licence read verbatim from the block embedded in this very file. Ingested exactly as shipped: no normalisation, no stripping of marks, no Unicode recomposition.
Parsed structurally from the EPUB: an h3 names the surah, one p per verse with its number in its own span. An unnumbered p is the basmala and is not a verse, except in surah 1 where the basmala IS verse 1. 112 unnumbered paragraphs were found, which is 114 surahs less surah 1 and surah 9. Text is stored VERBATIM: NFC normalisation and XML entity unescaping only, because CC BY-ND forbids modification.
CLEARED on a licence read first-hand from the translator's own download page, not from an aggregator. Tanzil also hosts this translation, but under a blanket "non-commercial purposes only" term that directs the user to the translator or publisher for permission - a hosting disclaimer, not a grant - so the grant was taken from the licensor directly. The "God" edition was ingested; ClearQuran also publishes an "Allah" edition, differing in how the divine name is rendered, which is not ingested.
CLEARED ON THE WORK, WITH TWO RECORDED CAVEATS ON THIS COPY. (1) Rights basis is the expired copyright term, NOT the redistributing repository's licence. That repository dedicates its contents to the public domain under the Unlicense while also redistributing plainly in-copyright translations (Abdel Haleem, Saheeh International, The Study Quran), so it is dedicating rights it cannot hold and its blanket grant is not relied upon here. (2) The file declares its own upstream as tanzil.net, and Tanzil attaches a non-commercial condition to its TRANSLATION distributions, though not to its Qur'anic text. Since Pickthall's copyright has expired, nobody holds rights in these words and no licence is required from anyone; Tanzil's terms are a contract binding those who download from Tanzil, which we did not. The chain is nonetheless not spotless and Anwar may prefer a clean digitisation of the 1930 printing. NOT VERIFIED: that this digital text matches the 1930 first printing rather than a later revised edition. No page images were collated. Recorded as unverified rather than presented as established. SERVED TEXT DIFFERS FROM THE CITED FILE AT ONE VERSE, 37:97: the file reads "red-hotfire" (a glued token, also in Gutenberg #16955); the served row reads "red-hot fire", restored 2026-09-13 from Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (London: George Allen & Unwin, printed for Alfred A. Knopf; 1930), p. 460, XXXVII 97 - scan archive.org in.ernet.dli.2015.216140, PDF page 475; banked data/derivation-sources/pickthall-1930-dli-2015.216140-text.pdf (sha256 70e81146c97fa3a590243a82e04e349108546074787e2551a78c616202138870) on Anwar Malik's grant.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 verses, keyed to mushaf order. The
bismillah is not fused into ayah 1: 1:1 carries it and no other verse
does. Verified against content check C3 at ingest.
CLEARED ON THE WORK. Term expired by every measure. The digital edition's upstream is not stated by the redistributor and the printing is unverified. No statement of purpose is recorded for Palmer because none was sourced from his own preface in this pass; nothing is asserted on his behalf.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 verses, keyed to mushaf order. The
bismillah is not fused into ayah 1: 1:1 carries it and no other verse
does. Verified against content check C3 at ingest.
CLEARED ON THE WORK. Term expired by every measure. TWO edition caveats. (1) The upstream is not stated by the redistributor. (2) Rodwell's own edition PRESENTS THE SURAHS IN HIS OWN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, not the mushaf order — he says so in his preface. This digital text is keyed to mushaf order, so it derives from a restored-order printing (such as the Everyman edition) rather than from Rodwell's own arrangement. Which printing is not stated and has not been established.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 verses, keyed to mushaf order. The
bismillah is not fused into ayah 1: 1:1 carries it and no other verse
does. Verified against content check C3 at ingest.
CLEARED ON THE WORK. Term expired by every measure. The digital edition's upstream is NOT STATED by the redistributor, so the printing it represents is unverified; Sale's text was reprinted and re-edited many times between 1734 and 1900. Recorded as unverified rather than assumed to be the first edition.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 ayahs. The bismillah is delivered as a separate `bismillah` attribute on ayah 1 and is NOT fused into the ayah text. 112 surahs carry one: every surah except al-Fatiha, where the bismillah is ayah 1:1 itself, and at-Tawba, which has none. Sourced from the XML output; the plain-text output of the same release DOES fuse it, which is defect D1.
CLEARED. Parallel edition, held in ayah_text_variants. It sits alongside the Uthmani spine for search normalisation and is never used to correct it.